Remembrance
by Crym94
Summary: Post game. Sometimes the past is hard to overcome. Freya began a journey that would change things more than she could have expected.
1. Prologue

She was resting her back on the trunk of an old oak, the bark brushing lightly on her now bloodstained linen shirt.

Not too far the huge carcass of an Ironite was resting on the lush underbrush of the forest, the strong green of the leaves eating the pinkish skin of the dragon.  
She sighed, looking down at the stains.

Years ago she would never have been so clumsy, the red coat surely helped hiding the bloodstains but she knew that something was missing and it wasn't a matter of garments.  
A loud roar thundered in the sky and a small raindrop fell on her nose, wrinkling at the sudden little splash of cold water.

The burmecian looked up at the huge gathering rainclouds, a little smile forming on her silver gray muzzle.  
Calmly she got up, brushing the dust from her orange pants.

She had a love and hate relationship with rain, it brought so many memories that grew heavy on her shoulders, heavyer than the rain during a rainstorm.

Sometimes rain felt like a blessing, it remembered her the times of her childhood when she played in her house garden, of her Dragoonhood when she trained under the rain of Burmecia, with the smell of wet stones and the strong scent of the iron of her lance.  
But sometimes rain felt more like bullets, and those days were always hard to get by, even if they would eventually pass, as the falling rain.

Passing by but not fading.

She took her cloak from a nearby branch, the fabric embracing the small but muscular shoulders.  
With a swift gesture of her left hand and a cracking noise she extracted her Javelin from the skull of the dead dragon, letting the rain wash the blood of the beast from the point of the old lance.

She closed her eyes for a moment and placed her hands together in a praying stance, ignoring the tickling of the raindrops on her hair.

It was now time to continue her journey, she couldn't stop, not now.

She wasnt't ready to stop yet.

Freya put on the cloak hood and, with her lance packed on her back, started walking her way out of the forest.  
Perhaps things would settle down finally, but only time could tell.

And she had plenty.

* * *

So this is more of an introduction than a real chapter!  
I'm writing again after 10 years and it felt so strange yet so good, writing relax me so much and i had this story in my head since months.  
I hope to be able to write it down properly (also sorry for the probable syntax errors, english is not my language and i'm trying my best).  
I'll do my best to update regularly!


	2. Treno

The loud shouting from one of the street booths broke the regular chatting of the market.

He was running as fast as he could, little bare feets hitting the stone slabs of the street, clutching the small bundle to his chest.  
The loud stomping of two way bigger figures approached closer and closer ,the clanking sound of metal plates stronger and stronger.

With a quick movement he dashed on the left and jumped on a pile of wood crates, making his way to the roof of a nearby house.

He smirked as he saw the Treno guards running down the street, shouting at eachother while trying to understand where he could have gone.

It was getting easier and easier every day.  
The first month in the city was pretty hard on him.  
One time he was caught while trying to steal some dried meat from a cart, the seller took him by surprise and punched him right in the face.

He suddenly put his hand on the old bruise on his cheek as the painful and embarassing memory passed through his mind.

He always hated how bruises looked on his blueish skin, he always thought that he looked like a battered blueberry left in the sun.

The sound of an hungry stomach woke him up from his thoughts.

He opened the small bundle and started eating the hard worked meal.  
Eating on the roofs was always amazing, he could see the many different houses and rooftops of the city and gaze at the everlasting nightsky in peace, without any bother.  
Everlasting night.

It wasn't so bad, the clear nightsky always offered a shining show of stars and constellations and the air was fresh and cold even in summer.

His sleeping schedule wasn't as happy, but it would have been only a matter of time, he was sure of that.

Satisfied, he finished the last piece of bread.

The blue kid stood up and, after checking the street below, started climbing down from the rooftop.

The alley was quiet and calm, the dark stone of the street shining under the moonlight.

As he was turning in a smaller street a strong grip suddenly tightened around his arm, the rough texture of leathered gauntlets against his bare skin.

"Finally i caught you!"

The kid gasped and tried to free himself from the guard tight grip without success.

"You must be the little rascal that it's causing trouble in the market street eh?"

The man studied the boy from head to toe with a severe look

"light blue skin, ruffled red hair...yep it's definetly you. You are coming with me, NOW"

It wasn't happening.  
Not now, it couldn't be real.  
After all his months spent adapting to the new city, he had been such an idiot and he was hating himself for beign so much careless.

"Let me go!" snarled the kid, showing his clenched teeth in an animal like expression.

The guard laughed under his big moustache, looking down at the skinny boy with an entertained expression.  
"You wish, you are coming with me now"

He was lying on his back on a cold wooden bench, waterdrops dripping from one of the moldy corners of the cell ceiling.

Silence was an alien concept there, prisoners never fell silent and, when it would (rarely) happen, the persistent sound of dripping water took their place.

The smell was another issue, but he always tried to think less and less about it

This was such a mess.

It was his first time in a prison cell and he immediately hoped it to be the last one.

Only a night had passed and it already felt too long for him, he wasn't a fan of closed spaces and surely they didn't fit him at all.

Overthinking about his situation wasn't helping.

Without hesitating he got up from the bench and punched the nearest thing, and that thing was a hard stone wall.

He quickly regretted his choice, while trying to suppress a painful yell.

"Punching walls won't help you much, boy" said a entertained voice not too far from him.

The blue kid turned.

An old man was observing him from a near cell, he could see his white beard and moustache dancing at the rythm of his chuckles.

"Says the one behind the bars"

"You sure are clever, you got a point" the man laughed, smoothing his beard with one boney hand "but trust me, it's a good advice".

The boy rolled his eyes behind his red bangs, the last thing that he wanted in that exact moment was a talkative mad old guy .

"What's your name kid? Mine is Gek!"  
"It's none of your business"  
"My pleasure Mr None!"

"..."

The elder lughed louder this time, his voice even crankier.

"Oh come one i was joking, we all need to joke or we would end up mad in here!"

"...I can see"

"What did you do? You are young, meat as fresh as yours it's pretty rare in here"

"I've done a mistake, it won't happen again" he said while sitting with his back against the stone wall "i'll be more careful next time".

"Mmm dunno kid, usually the types of your age are sent to reformatory, the one out in the countryside"

He quickly tilted his read head up, looking straight in the old man eyes.

"What did you say?"

"Yeah a reformatory, the mayor thinks that these are the best way to reintegrate children like you in the society, they have built new ones lately"

No this couldn't be.

It was the end.

It was literally the last thing that he wanted, he couldn't end up in one of those places.

He heard about them and he knew enough to decide that he couldn't go there.

"I must escape"

"What?" gasped Gek "you can't escape from here, unless you can chew through metal of course"

"I'll find a way, just give me t..."

"BAYAM?"

The loud voice of a prison guard interrupted the conversation.

A tall armored man approached the cell with a set of keys in his right hand, the metal sound of the plates echoed through the prison.

"...it's me" the boy answered, looking in the guard's eyes with a puzzled expression.

_Click_

The cell door opened with a loud and rusty sound.

"It's your lucky day little scamp" an annoyed expression formed on the guard face "a relative paid the bail, they are waiting outside, you are out".


	3. Autumn and Trains

Autumn began painting the leaves.  
Orange mixing with yellow and green, a natural decoupage forming on the tree branches, dried leaves crunching noisily under her clawed paws.

Freya breathed the fresh air of the morning, she could smell the strong scent of wet bark and underbrush all around her, embracing her senses completely.

Autumn was her favourite, she loved the colors of the nature and its scents during the season.

Autumn equinox has always been an important holiday in the Burmecian kingdom,  
even the famous city of everlasting rain suffered the Summer heat, especially with the disappearance of the Mist.  
After that the rain wasn't everlasting anymore and the rainy months of Autumn bringed life and flourishing after the hot and dry months, the start of a new cycle and the prelude to the cold Winter.

The night of the equinox meant many things.  
People from all the Burmecian kingdom would gather in the city, the smell of hot spiced wine, cinnamon an pumpkin dishes filling the air together with the sound of the bells stitched on the dancers outfits, an alchemy of aromas and music framed in the warm light of the street lights.

But there would have been no equinox holiday for her this year.

She sighed loudly, the forest slowly thinned into a huge praire, the strong wind caught her unguarderd.

The Bohden gate wasn't too far away, she could see the Aerbs mountains in the distance, both slicing and embracing the continent regions.

Freya knew these lands, she knew them more than she would have cared to admit.

All about the lands between Lindblum and Burmecia brought her memories from now many years ago, the years of her search for Flatrey.

Then she found him, just to discover he wasn't himself anymore.

She was meat, blood and bones, organic and material.

He was mist, shadow, ghost, distant and intangible.

"Excuse me m'am"

The voice awakaned the burmecian from her thoughts.

A young man was sitting on a wooden cart not too far from her, a puffy yellow chocobo towing it.

"Good afternoon?"

"Excuse me again m'am, are you headed to the Bohden gate?"

The Burmecian glanced at him.

"Yes i am, why?"  
"I have some space on the back of my cart, i'm bringing some supplies for the guys that works there" he said with a gesture indicating some barrels and wood crates behind him "i know that it's not a fancy chariot, but i can offer a hike"

She wasn't the type, usually.

The Freya of the past would have refused such offer and continued her journey alone, walking through the misty plains.

But she wasn't the same anymore and the days of journeying through the humid undergrowth of the woods were starting to get heavy on her feets.

"Thank you for you offer, i'll accept it if it's not troubling"

"Oh no not at all, also there aren't many travellers in this season and i always love some company"

With a quick move she climbed on the back of the cart, sitting on an old crate.

With a loud "Kweh" the chocobo started walking, the wooden wheels creaking under the weight of the heavy merch and a not heavy at all Burmecian.

"So, you are a Burmecian"  
"So it seems"

"Excuse me, didn't mean that way. Your people are pretty rare around here, you are the first one that i encounter during my supplier job in these plains"he said with a sheepish expression.  
"Are you on a journey?"

"Sorta" she replied hesitating for a moment, keeping her gaze low.

"Oh i wish you well, where are you heading to?"  
"Daguerreo"

"Oh that's nice, why are you heading there?"

She was starting to regret her choices.

All of this was reminding her why she always refused hikes from strangers.

If there was a thing that Freya didn't like much in her youth ,and that sure hasn't improved in the years, it was people with too much questions.

Too much questions meant too much answers and she didn't have the energy for that, not now.

"You sure are a talkative guy"

"Ehehe that's true" the guy couldn't resist from smiling a little. "but i love to hear stories from people, even if i admit that i can be too invasive with my questions sometimes, excuse me m'am"

"Don't worry about that, i'm just tired" an half smile forming on her lips "also what's your name?"

"Oh my name is Philipp m'am"

"No need to call me m'am, just call me Hel"

The mountains were starting to become closer and closer, the crystal like peaks covered in the snow shone under the sunrays that filtered through the grey clouds.

"Are you a warrior?"

"Let's say i am one, yes"

"I've heard of Burmecian dragoons, mighty warriors trained to defeat powerful dragons and foes, the elite of the kingdom" said Philipp with a dreamy expression in his eyes "are you one of them?"

"Dragoons are the protectors of the Burmecian kingdom and it's Royalty. I wouldn't be here if I was one, wouldn't i?"

The excited expression on Philipp's face soon died down leaving space to a delusional one, like a kid discovering that the Easter Mu isn't real.

"That's true, it doesn't make sense" he sighed "One of them even saved the world from a huge disaster 10 years ago or so, what was her name yet? Oh yes, Lady Freya!"

The Burmecian stiffened a little, she couldn't ruin her cover, not yet.

She had to reach Daguerreo first, she wanted a quiet and calm journey and being one of the saviors of Gaia got you a free ticket for free random people showing up asking questions, autographs and many other annoying things that she wasn't in the mood to bear.

"You sure know her, don't you?"

"Only by fame"

"I've met some people during my journey in the mist continent, sometimes they told me stories about her" said Philipp with a smile while looking at the mountains "The 8 heroes are always an hot topic wherever you go, they say that her lance can split a mountain in half and that her jump can kill a Grand Dragon instantly "

"They said so?"

The young man nodded

"They also say that she is a strong warrior, no fear can touch her, an hero of her Kingdom and Gaia"

She made an half smile, looking down at the wood crates.

So this is how Legends and Folklore are born.

If people only knew how she felt when she saw her Burmecia destroyed, the strong smell of burnt fur and flesh, the dead bodies of her comrades and friends in the streets, covered in the ruins of the crumbling buildings.

If they only saw Cleyra being destroyed by the almighty Odin, fire eating the sacred tree like a savage beast.

Freya was many things, but fearless wasn't one of them.

Even now, after years, fear wasn't a stranger but a friend to her, keeping her company during her sleepless nights, the memories of those days still vivid in her mind.

She had fought with all of herself, always, that was true.

But she definitely wasn't the godly Valkyria that those people narrated to Philipp.

Freya was a Dragoon, a warrior, but also a mortal beign, made of flesh, blood and bones like anybody else.

"Here we are! Hope you have a nice and safe trip to Daguerreo"

"Thank you very much for the hike, it was a pleasure travelling with you"

She hopped from the wooden cart and caressed the head of the brightly yellow chocobo, he chirped happily and loudly, rubbing his feathery cheek on her hand.

"I wish you good luck with your supplier job"

"Thank you very much lady Hel, I hope to see you again!"

Waving her hand she saluted Philipp and headed herself to the Berqumea station.

Once in Alexandria she would take a boat to Daguerreo and, finally, she could rest a little.

The city devoted to Leviathan didn't bear bad memories, it was the best place for her at the moment.

The mist continent was her home, but the desire to take a break from it, from Burmecia, from everything related to it was too strong for her.

She could read the many books that adorned the ancient library, train in the nearby plains fighting against the strong Grand Dragons and talk again with Kildea, one of the few survivors of Cleyra.

They used to share envelopes some years ago, but with the rebuilding of Burmecia Freya just stopped writing.

She always regretted that and felt a little bit of shame in that, the idea of meeting her and being able to explain everything cheered her up a bit.

She sat on one of the train benches, looking out of the Berquemea's window.

For a moment she felt a pang of regret.

Maybe this wasn't right, maybe it was a bad choice.

Maybe, Maybe, Maybe, always maybe's and if's.

But after years of duties, fights and wars it was Her time, she deserved a little bit of selfishness.

Yawning, Freya leaned her head toward the wall, closing her eyes.


End file.
